Abstract
The cultivation of microalgae within municipal and agricultural wastewater offers the opportunity to treat the water and partition nutrients into valuable biomass. Harvesting of those algae is a challenge, as conventional coagulants (iron and aluminum salts) contaminate algae and lock up phosphorus preventing beneficial reuse. We show that flocculation by calcium phosphate precipitation is capable of harvesting algae and phosphate from municipal wastewater in a form suitable for reuse. However, the initiation of flocculation by natural pH increase was infeasible. We harvested 93% of algal solids with an initial concentration of 113mg VSS/L and 96% of total phosphate from a waste stabilization pond effluent by initiating flocculation with 129mg-P/L of soluble phosphate and addition of 364mg/L quicklime to achieve a pH of 10.0, at a calculated cost of $0.05 USD per kL for alkali addition, which is similar to the chemical addition costs of conventional coagulation.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
